Scientific Journal of

  Abstract

 Bakground and Objectives

  Chronic illness and its treatment have negative impact on physical, psychological, and social aspects of quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between spiritual well-being with quality of life and mental health in young adults with beta- thalassemia major.

 Materials and Methods

  This is a descriptive-correlational study in which ninety six young thalassemics were selected by convenience sampling method from centers for special diseases and Adult Thalassemia Center of Zafar in Tehran. The data werer collected by self-report. The instruments used included the demographic data form, the short form of WHO quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), the 28- item general health questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the spiritual health questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 18 using descriptive statistics, t- test, ANOVA, and pearson coefficient correlation.

 Results

  The findings indicated that 74% had moderate spiritual well-being, 72.9% moderate quality of life, and 62.5% mental health disorder. There was a positive correlation between the score of spiritual well-being and the total score of quality of life (r= 0.347 p= 0.001) and a negative correlation with the score of mental health (r = -0.525 p < 0.001).

 Conclusions

  The increase in the spiritual well being of thalassemia patients is associated with a better quality of life and mental health. It is recommended that the spiritual dimension along with physical, mental, and social dimensions of patients be considered for the holistic nursing care to be properly exerted.